These 3 Tiny Habits Will Upgrade Your Daily Routine. Here’s How — Better Humans This article was originally published on SamuelThomasDavies.com. Read the original article. Since enrolling on B.J. Fogg’s Tiny Habits course last year, I’ve learned a lot of new behaviours. Some have been more transformative than others, but today, I want to share with you three Tiny Habits that have yielded the highest returns on investment for me. Before I do, lets look at what a Tiny Habit is and why they’re so much fun to form. The Rules For those of you who are playing at home, here are the rules. Rule #1: A Tiny Habit, according to Fogg, is a behaviour: 1. 2. 3. Tiny Habits must match the criteria above because the easier the behaviour, the less it depends on motivation. [1] Rule #2: Tiny Habits are designed to come immediately after an existing habit. Now you know Fogg’s rules, lets look at each Tiny Habit in detail. Tiny Habit #1: Make Your Bed Immediately After Waking Up On May 16, 2014, U.S. “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed”, McCraven told the attendees.
How Google Impacts The Way Students Think How Google Impacts The Way Students Think by Terry Heick It’s always revealing to watch learners research. When trying to understand complex questions often as part of multi-step projects, they often simply “Google it.” Why do people migrate? Where does inspiration come from? How do different cultures view humanity differently? Literally Google it. And you see knowledge as searchable, even though that’s not how it works. 1. Google is powerful, the result of a complicated algorithm that attempts to index human thought that has been digitally manifest. The result? 2. When students are looking for an “answer,” good fortune sees them arrive at whatever they think they’re looking for, where they can (hopefully) evaluate the quality and relevance of the information, cite their source, and be on their merry way. But with the cold logistics of software, having come what they were looking for, learners are left with the back-button, a link on the page they’re on, or a fresh browser tab. 3.
Learn More, Study Less: The Video Course What if I told you... You could get better grades, with less studying than you are doing now. Smart people aren’t just gifted – they have a different learning strategy (that you can copy). Most people have no idea how they learn things. As a result, they can't train themselves to be smart. These things may seem unbelievable. Aced university finals with little or no studying. I say this not to brag, because my accomplishments are relatively modest. I’m saying this because I believe you can do it too. How is This Possible? The answer is holistic learning. What is holistic learning? Holistic learning does the opposite. When I first introduced holistic learning, it created a sensation. Hundreds more signed up for Learning on Steroids, a monthly training program, despite only being open for registration less than four days in the last 8 months. Learn More, Study Less: The Video Course Here's what you'll be getting when you sign up for Learn More, Study Less: The Video Course: - Marcus - Parminder
An Addict’s Guide to Overcoming the Distraction Habit By Leo Babauta Yesterday wasn’t a very focused day for me — I got work done, but I also researched a bunch of newish personal interests (mostly programming and cycling), played an iPhone trivia game with my kids, read a bunch of online articles, and did very little of the writing I’d planned. Digital distractions have also pulled me from reading and meditation in the last week. I think they plague all of us to varying extents. Realizing this, today I closed all the tabs I’d been researching and reading, bookmarked a few things to read later, shut down the trivia game on my phone, closed email, and took a break. I meditated. I showered, and contemplated what was important to me. Then I got on my bike to get outside and get the blood circulating. Then I found a place with no wifi, and sat down to write. This is a guide for my fellow addicts. Recognizing when it happens One of the insidious things about the distraction habit is that we often don’t even realize it’s happening. See what’s going on
Why Each Year Seems to Disappear More Quickly Than the Last For most people, each passing month of their lives seems to feel shorter than the previous. Many of us can’t believe that stores are already starting to display Christmas products, and if you’re writing a check, you might still catch yourself writing 2013 when 2014 is nearly over. All clocks follow the same 12 hour / 60 minute symmetry, yet studies suggest that as we get older, we don’t experience time the same way. And there are many theories that explain why it feels like time speeds up as we grow older. Many psychologists believe that as we age, our perception of time begins to accelerate versus time actually speeding up. The emotional intensity of our daily life is affected by the fact that many of us experience “Habituation Hypothesis”. Our instinct is to conserve energy when we can, so when life is predictable, our minds turn to autopilot and we tune out. The quickening of our perception of time was also explained by Paul Janet’s “Proportional Theory”. How can we slow down time?
How To Get Rich | Jeff Walker So this is the blog post where I tell you exactly how to get rich. Now I know with a title like “How to Get Rich”, I’m gonna lose a lot of people right away… but don’t make that mistake of clicking away. Keep reading, this is legit. Actually, I suppose there are lots of ways to get rich… but I’m going to share with you what I think is the most surefire way to get rich – it’s the path that worked for me. Now the reality is that most people won’t get rich… I suppose that’s just the way the world works. And I will also tell you that this formula is not 100% guaranteed… because I’m sure there are people that have worked this formula and NOT gotten rich. OK, enough preamble… let’s get to it. STEP 1. IMPORTANT: for some people (including me) it’s not really a financial measurement – it’s something else. But the bottom line is that you are going to shoot at a big target (and being “rich” is a big target), then you need to know what target you’re shooting at. So that’s how I plan out my year.
The Smart Way to Stick to Habits By Leo Babauta Sticking to a new habit isn’t easy — but if you set up your habit change smartly, you can make it stick. Starting a new habit isn’t too hard — we often get excited about starting an exercise plan or diet or waking up early, for example. But a number of obstacles get in the way of sticking to the habit long enough for it to become automatic. Here are the usual obstacles: You lose enthusiasm: Probably the No. 1 reason people fail is that the enthusiasm they feel when they first start the habit, when they’re fantasizing about how great it’ll be, fades away after a few days or a week. Let’s figure out a smart system that gets around these obstacles. Addressing Each Obstacle Let’s address each obstacle one by one, before putting it all together into one system: Enthusiasm: The answer to this is making a big commitment. Let’s take these elements and combine them into a smart system for sticking to habits. The Smart Habit System So let’s put our best practices together: Start small.
Teachers Top 100 Books for Children The following list was compiled from an online survey in 2007. Parents and teachers will find it useful in selecting quality literature for children. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown I Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo Oh! Analyze Your Flawed Beliefs to Achieve Your Goals How To Master Your Time The secret to time management is simple: Jedi time tricks. Imagine you were a Jedi master called Bob (your parents, whilst skilled in the ways of the force weren’t the best at choosing names). The love of your life – Princess Lucia – is trapped in a burning building as you hurry to save her. You might think of Lucia as the embodiment of your dreams, your aspirations – she is your most important thing. Unfortunately, before you can reach her an army of stormtroopers open fire. The incoming stream of lasers demand your attention – if you fail to dodge them, you’re dead. We all know how a hero resolves this dilemma. And so it is with your life. The secret to mastering your time is to systematically focus on importance and suppress urgency. Look at what you spend your day doing. Say no. Schedule your priorities. One final lesson from the Jedi: they’re heroes. Heroes inspire us for many reasons: they make tough decisions, they keep going and they get done what matters.
Dilbert's Scott Adams on Why It's Better to Have a System Than a Goal He's best known as the creator of the popular Dilbert comic strip, but Scott Adams is an accomplished business writer and commentator. His nine years at Pacific Bell helped inspire the characters for his comic strip, which he originally created on nights and weekends while still working his day job. Today, he has penned numerous books, including The Dilbert Principle and Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook, both New York Times number-one bestsellers. I recently had the privilege of interviewing Adams, who is preparing for the softcover release of his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, which is currently available in hardcover. The book highlights insight he gained in his years in the corporate world, including his time at Pacific Bell and his work at Crocker National Bank from 1979 to 1986. Acting on one of his "strange skills" to "simplify complicated things," Adams discussed his belief in using what he calls "systems" instead of goals. The Problem With Goals
Training the Brain to Listen: A Practical Strategy for Student Learning and Classroom Management Image credit: iStockphoto Editor's note: This post is co-authored by Marcus Conyers who, with Donna Wilson, is co-developer of the M.S. and Ed.S. Brain-Based Teaching degree programs at Nova Southeastern University. They have written several books, including Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice. During the school year, students are expected to listen to and absorb vast amounts of content. But how much time has been devoted to equipping students with ways to disconnect from their own internal dialogue (self-talk) and to focus their attention fully on academic content that is being presented? Explicit instruction on cognitive strategies that can help students learn how to learn may have a positive impact on both academic performance and classroom management by emphasizing that students are in charge of their own behavior and learning. The Anatomy and Psychology of Listening Teaching Students to Focus and Listen
Learning languages is a workout for brains, both young and old UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Learning a new language changes your brain network both structurally and functionally, according to Penn State researchers. "Learning and practicing something, for instance a second language, strengthens the brain," said Ping Li, professor of psychology, linguistics and information sciences and technology. "Like physical exercise, the more you use specific areas of your brain, the more it grows and gets stronger." Li and colleagues studied 39 native English speakers' brains over a six-week period as half of the participants learned Chinese vocabulary. Of the subjects learning the new vocabulary, those who were more successful in attaining the information showed a more connected brain network than both the less successful participants and those who did not learn the new vocabulary. The researchers also found that the participants who were successful learners had a more connected network than the other participants even before learning took place.
We think more rationally in a foreign language One of psychology's major contributions has been to document the myriad ways our thinking is sent haywire by a series of biases. Investigations into the ways and means to combat these biases have lagged behind, but that's starting to change. Now a team of researchers at the University of Chicago has reported that people are immune to two key biases when they think in their second, less familiar language. The first half of the investigation involved well-established framing effects. The gamble in each condition is effectively the same, but numerous studies have shown that people are systematically influenced by the way the choice is framed. Boaz Keysar and his team showed that dozens of native English speakers showed the typical framing effect when they completed the task in English, but not when they completed the task in their second, classroom-learned language of Japanese. The second half of the investigation focused on loss aversion. Boaz Keysar,, Sayuri L.